


Soul-Mates

by Blue_Hood



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alpha Bobbi Morse, Alpha Jemma Simmons, Alpha John Garrett, Alpha Phil Coulson, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, F/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Grant Ward, Omega Lance Hunter, Omega Leo Fitz, Pack Bonding, Pack Dynamics, Pack Family, Past Relationship(s), Redemption, Soul Bond, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:54:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26167477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: Soul-mate: vernacular for a person’s most suitable mate
Relationships: John Garrett/Grant Ward, Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Kudos: 4





	1. HuntingBird

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Mating](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21304973) by [Blue_Hood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood). 



Hunter hated undercover work, he could only go in with Bobbi and he had to play the tame mate. The only good part was the fact that being her mate made him her right hand man. Even though most of her underlings jeered him, calling him the boss's bitch, she was more likely to listen to him than anyone else.

Within SHIELD, Hunter could run his mouth to his heart's content. HYDRA wasn’t SHIELD and after being under so long, he forgot himself. Bobbi grabbed him by the back of the neck and pressed down. Scruffing him was actually kinder than the alternatives, his instincts overrode independent thought and forced him to submit. For a terrifying few seconds, he thought she might not accept it before she let go with a growled "Don’t contradict me again." His head remained bowed for the rest of the meeting and he followed meekly in her wake back to their quarters, where she gestured for him to take his presumed proper place before looping the surveillance and reassuring him.

Hunter waved her off "It’s fine. Ya made the best of a bad situation."

"Alright." To avoid detection, the loop didn’t last long and soon she was dominating him, in case any of their superiors checked.

When Bobbi interrogated Jemma, Hunter was in the room, flanking the door. After the interview, they went to the gym. Bobbi challenged her underlings to fight her mate in the ring, making sure they knew that they could refuse while pressing just the right buttons to make them go for it. In the ring, Hunter didn’t have to play the part of submissive Omega. He beat every challenger with ease until they stopped coming then he returned to his Alpha's side, playing to type once more. The display had the intended effect, Hunter was given due respect as second in command and Bobbi was given more respect for bringing him to heel.

Then everything came crashing down, Hunter covered their escape by shooting the guards who chased them to the roof. In the back of the Quinjet, Bobbi stood over Hunter, who was sitting down on the bench with his head bowed, leaning towards her. The redhead had one hand resting on his shoulder for balance, gently petting him with her other hand. The whole display was heartening and Jemma instantly realized how terrible life must’ve been for them in HYDRA, possibly worse than it was for her. Hunter looked over at her and grinned, she tried for a neutral smile, unable to get a read on the kind of Alpha Agent Morse was. The other Alpha woman sat down beside her mate at last and Hunter leaned against her. From his little display on their way out, Jemma doubted he was usually so subdued. He may have been an Omega but he was clearly a man of action over affection, a fighter first. He started awake when they landed and Morse pretty much dragged him to the infirmary to get his wounds treated before Coulson could get two words in. Jemma wasn’t as brave and waited for Coulson to dismiss her after the warm welcome she received, he did so by telling her where Fitz was.

After they both got patched up, Bobbi whispered in Hunter’s ear "Wanna go somewhere private?" She was careful not to touch him when she asked but that was a moot point because Hunter needed her, needed to be reassured that the nightmare HYDRA had been wasn’t real. He nodded mutely, grabbing her hand. She felt terrible for putting him through all that, for scruffing him after swearing she’d never do that to him. Now, it seemed, he was stuck in that submissive headspace. In their quarters, she asked "What do you need?"

"Proof the nightmare wasn’t real," answered Hunter honestly, head still down.

"Oh, baby." Bobbi had been all business, all the time while they were under. Now that they were out, she could be kinder. Hunter enjoyed the next hour more than he ever had his heat. Sadly, they had to debrief the Director and join the team once Hunter was back to his old self: independent, headstrong and mouthy, pretty much everything an Omega shouldn’t be. HYDRA was a big believer in gender roles, Alphas leading and Omegas submitting, which was a far cry from SHIELD where kind Alphas and self-sufficient Omegas were the norm. Hunter knew what it was like to be apart from your mate who was on a dangerous mission so he sought out Fitz after seeing how heartbroken Jemma was. "What are you doing down here?" He asked the engineer, who was holed up in his workshop with Mack, an Omega who only seemed to defy the size stereotype based on what Hunter had seen of the man’s personality.

Fitz mumbled something and Mack said "Working."

Hunter sighed and took a seat on a workbench "Y’know the Director only allowed me on the mission because he wanted Jemma to have extra protection. HYDRA doesn’t take kindly to defying gender roles, I make a suggestion without an Alpha asking me directly and they expect Bobbi to beat me down for speaking out of turn. If you think Simmons could’ve treated you like that then you don’t know your mate at all."

"Bobbi beat you?" asked Mack.

"No, she scruffed me, which is HYDRA's idea of kindness. Simmons didn’t know Bobbi and I were undercover, she thought our staffing problem was part of the reason the Director sent her. She might as well have beat you for how badly she feels about abandoning you."

"It’s different-" Fitz began, wanting Hunter to leave him alone.

"Bobbi and I didn’t get a chance to talk when we first met, we’re what you call true mates. When we did talk, she promised never to scruff me, said she didn’t want a submissive mate. You think we had it better in HYDRA than you had with Mack? Your brain can’t be that broken." Hunter sighed, averting his gaze to the floor "This is the first time we’ve done a mission together that wasn’t 'go there and take those guys out'. I’ve been left behind while Bobbi went undercover, and I was STRIKE Team Gamma, Bobbi's been left behind when the mission didn’t call for her skillset. Talk to your mate, mate." He cracked a grin at his own pun.

Fitz sighed and asked "Where is she?"

"Lounge with Skye," Hunter paused for a minute "Yeah, Skye."

Once Fitz was gone, Mack asked "How're you holding up?"

"Better than Bobbi."

Mack could believe that, Izzy and Idaho agreed that she was a lot nicer than her reputation would have you believe. They also agreed Hunter was a little shit and deserved Bobbi, their tone when they spoke of the mates was always light. Focusing back on the present, Mack said "You know how Alphas can be, which is why I was asking about you." His remark about Alphas only caused Hunter to bare his teeth in an Alpha gesture that somehow came off as cute when the Omega did it despite not looking much like an Omega. Mack raised his hands in surrender "I only meant that I can’t help her anymore than you can."

Hunter seemed to accept that and settle down, "I'll be fine. It’s over, we’re out and our cover's blown to bits." His caring Omega nature was the only thing keeping him from being fine because Bobbi was broken up about scruffing him.

"Let’s let the Alphas try to talk her down then maybe she'll listen." Mack said, hands still up when Hunter looked at him, "Unless I missed my guess about what's bothering you."

"Ya didn’t." Hunter hopped off the worktable, which made their height difference more pronounced "Thanks for the advice, mate." He smiled at the startled look the last word got him.

That night, as they retired for the night, Bobbi told Hunter "We need to talk."

"Yeah." Hunter said "You didn’t do anything wrong, Bobs."

"I scruffed-"

"What else could you do? A real HYDRA agent would've beat me down. If you hadn’t scruffed me, our cover would’ve been blown."

"I promised-"

"I’m telling you it was fine." Hunter forced a smirk "Then you let me beat down all the other bastards."

"That was strategic." Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was trying not to give off irritation pheromones.

Hunter said "I enjoyed it," gently tugging her arms apart and wrapping his arms around her. "I love you, mate." He avoided using the word Alpha, which was a term of endearment between mates, due to the topic of conversation. They were only an inch apart in height so he was able to easily whisper in her ear "You’re not like them, you let me stay on suppressants and you let me dominate them. Stop acting like you tried to make me meet their standards. If you had then we'd have a problem but you didn’t, Bobs." His scent backed up his words, he really did just want her to believe him when he said she did nothing wrong. She couldn’t help breathing in his nice, clear scent. The clarity told her he wasn’t holding anything back. He nuzzled her neck, scenting was an intimate form of reassurance between mates.

"I believe you," she said after a few moments of stubborn silence. "I love you too, Omega." Using a person’s dynamic or secondary gender as a nickname could either be a mild insult or the highest form of affection, not to be overused in either case. Hunter stifled the satisfied pur that triggered. She caressed his face "We’re good." He was too close not to pick up on the difference in scent if she wasn’t being honest. Truth be told, if he was okay then she was okay. As much as she hated to break this embrace, they needed to get some sleep. "Hunter." He let go, not happy about it either if his scent was anything to go by. That night, Bobbi held him close, a far cry from the cold Alpha control freak she’d been undercover.

The next morning, Hunter opened their door and jumped back. Bobbi was on high alert in front of him a moment later before they both groaned. Someone must've gone into heat and their Alpha forgot to seal the door, giving off territorial pheromones that tripped the instincts of anyone who's not a Beta. Bobbi dragged Hunter to the Koenigs' office, "Can you remotely seal the rooms?"

"Sure, who's room?"

Bobbi gave him a deadpan glare and Hunter shrugged "We're new to base. The seal isn't like a lock, is it?"

"No, at least not like that." Koenig quickly typed something into his computer "All rooms are sealed and the air filtration system is active, the hall should clear of pheromones in an hour or so then individual rooms will clear of residual scents until the base is cleaned out. Obviously-"

"Thank you," snapped Bobbi. Obviously the Omega and Alpha generating the pheromones won’t stop just because the air is clear. The seals and filtration system should clue them into what they'd been doing. Bobbi's instincts wouldn’t settle but she was aware of herself enough to know it was just her instincts that wanted to dominate Hunter like that.

She held his hand as they proceeded to the lounge for breakfast, only letting go to look through the cupboards. Neither missed the fact that only Betas were out and about, although they wondered how the Betas didn’t seem to notice. Usually Betas had to take their cues from those around them to know if someone's scent was off or things like that, the absence of everybody who wasn’t a Beta should’ve been a clue. In fact, they seemed surprised to see an Alpha and Omega in the common area. One of the agents caught Hunter staring blankly at the kitchen area and came over to explain the organization system. Hunter thanked him with a smile and kicked Bobbi out of the kitchen so he could take care of her. Mack was on edge when he joined them "Anyone else feel weird this morning?"

"Pheromone overload," said Hunter by way of explanation.

Mack blinked, processed his words then sat down on a stool, "Hnn." Hunter slid some food his way before taking a seat beside his mate, Bobbi rested a hand on his leg as they ate. Mack could admit to being slightly jealous of the mates but he was used to it. Being an unbonded adult Omega, his biological clock was ticking. The others tricked in, many were much like Mack, on edge and a little bewildered. Hunter stood and made more food, slapping away the hands of Betas who were up before him in favor of the Alphas and Omegas getting a late start. It was soon clear who caused the disruption when neither Fitz or Simmons turned up. Coulson had Beta agents show Hunter and Bobbi the ropes, with Bobbi getting a more involved rundown of the lab due to her biology background and May testing both of them separately for their specialist certification. Overall, it was a relatively easy day.

Coulson left a note among Fitz and Simmons' mail about sealing their room during the former's heat. Simmons, he realized with a grimace, was still young enough to give off strong rutting pheromones even though she'd mostly overcome the instinct. That made him think of Skye, who might have been younger than Simmons yet never gave off very strong pheromones, and he paid her office a visit "What's up, DC?"

Deciding the direct route was best, he bluntly asked "Are you on scent blockers?"

"Y’know," she didn’t seem to be taking offense, "I’m surprised it took you this long to ask. No, I’m not on blockers. I’m quite sure I’m an Alpha but I’ve never had those instincts."

Rutting instincts, Phil guessed she meant and decided to try letting the subject drop. "Huh, interesting."

"Yeah." Skye forced a smile "Useful too, you can’t track me by scent the way you can most people."

"Yeah. But you were affected this morning," if she was willing to talk about it, he’d take full advantage.

"Oh, I still have most Alpha traits but I just don’t have strong pheromones or rutting instincts."

"You’ve probably noticed pheromones weaken with age, you’re just like an adult Alpha."

"I know, I’m just saying that my senses are normal."

"OK."

That night, Hunter whined in Bobbi's ear "Alpha." She smirked. The air filter had worked like a charm so she knew this wasn’t his instincts begging, this was him asking and she wasn’t opposed to the idea. Suppressants only worked on a mated Omega if their bond was occasionally renewed, otherwise they’d fail randomly to force a renewal. Nipping the bond mark didn’t necessarily renew it, Bobbi had to bite down hard to be sure and Hunter’s instincts demanded a renewal almost every time they had sex, his body associating the bond with babies even on suppressants. Hunter wondered if he should go off suppressants for a proper renewal then remembered every time he’d done so. There were a few medical reasons to go off suppressants, mostly tied to them interfering with other medications, and Hunter had yet to be lucky enough to go off them without going into heat. He forced himself to stop thinking about heats so he could properly enjoy the present. Bobbi held him close as they fell asleep. The third day they were on base, they began actually doing SHIELD work. The first day was spent debriefing and touring after their escape, the second testing and adjusting, the third day was when they got actual assignments.


	2. Ward

Hunter liked new SHIELD better than the old one, mostly because the Director kept mates together as much as possible. Bobbi also appreciated that because being able to cuddle every night was a lot more satisfying than simply reminding herself that he was what she was fighting for. Everything came to a head when Hunter got a chance to talk to Ward at the train station, sure the specialist would clock him anyway. "It’s a long trip, mate. Might as well clear the air." He’d cuffed himself to Ward, their wrists covered by a coat. "You’re not getting anywhere near Skye."

"Isn't that up to her?"

"Yeah." He pulled out his phone and played a recording of Skye saying she didn’t want him, that she was scared of how he’d take the rejection while Hunter tried to comfort her. "The lady's spoken. You can’t undo the evils of your past and you can’t blame Garrett either. I’ve seen the video, he never even scruffed you, you chose to do what you did." He shuddered a bit remembering his time as an Omega in HYDRA. "You know damn well that you have no right to blame him like that. You can’t play the mistreated Omega then turn around and try to act Alpha. There, I said my piece. Time for you to be honest and say yours."

A million different responses ran through Grant's head, mostly snarks that would twist the knife but for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to say any of it. "What are you?"

"Hmm? Oh, I’m Barbara Morse's mate." Barbara Morse, of course, he should’ve known such a mouthy shit was Mockingbird's mate. Hunter said "If you’re asking why you’re having trouble saying things you know will hurt me, it’s because we’ve both been bonded, I am bonded. Instincts say a bonded Omega is no threat and Garrett loved gender roles so much that you never learned how to overcome those instincts, you always relied on your Alpha to defend you from that. It’s also why you haven’t picked the lock and walked away, you’re a housebroken Omega not a worldly one." Housebroken meant tame, docile, and a lot of other things Ward wanted to scream he wasn't but at the same time, he honestly didn’t want to pick the lock, he was somehow fine with being cuffed to this Omega. "You’re also nearing your first real heat without your Alpha. They were trying to transition you to unbonded suppressants but they didn’t want to hold you down and force the pills down your throat, even though you love to palm them."

"And since you’re not a threat to my instincts-"

"Just the opposite, sniff the coat."

Grant looked around before doing as told, "Garrett," he said in the same tone most Omegas said Alpha.

"Yeah, it’s helping but since he ain’t around, we gotta get you somewhere safe and isolated. Just as soon as we reach the first stop, this isn’t an express bus." Grant realized that he’d never truly been as calm as Hunter was now, never as sure of his place with Garrett as Hunter was of his place with Morse. They got off the bus at the first stop, where a car was waiting with Antoine Triplett in the driver’s seat. "I’ll explain later, just drive, he’s in pre-heat." During an unbonded Omega's heat, they either needed an Alpha to bond with or a heat room. Alphas were strictly prohibited from heat rooms for safety reasons, even bonded Alphas.

While they were caring for their prisoner, Hunter gave Trip a play-by-play of what happened on the bus and what he’d deduced from that. "Huh," Trip said "Well, Skye's not gonna like that."

"What? That he’s imprinting or that I recorded our conversation?"

"Both."

"If we keep the Alphas away from him, we’ll get more out of him and that includes May, she always acts a bit more Alpha around him."

"Alright." They'd have to wait his heat out, Coulson would have the head of any agent who took advantage of an Omega's heat, but this could work.

"You’ll bring the others up to speed, yeah?"

"Of course." Hunter didn’t want to deal with Skye after what he did to keep Ward from attacking.

They managed to bring Grant in peacefully. The Alphas congregated in the lab, where he could see them but couldn’t scent or hear them as he was taken back to Vault D. Hunter hurried to join the Alphas while Trip stayed outside the cell to talk to the traitor, trying to understand how Hunter could be so sure that there was anything worth saving. Hunter and Coulson confronted Christian Ward in his office "We got your brother back but you already knew. I'm sure your spies told you how he got off that bus with me. After HYDRA, we don’t appreciate that sort of behavior."

Christian looked at Phil "Do you always let your Omegas do the talking?"

"Y’know, I was wondering how Grant fell into Garrett's trap, how being abused and used could seem so appealing. Now I know, John Garrett treated him better than his own family did," Coulson stood, "You messed with the wrong people."

"Is that a threat? Are you threatening me? Because I just have to yell HYDRA and you'll both go bye-bye for good."

Hunter invaded his personal space "What about Thomas? If you treated Grant worse than HYDRA did, and they treat Omegas like crap, I gotta wonder how you treated Thomas. What’s he gonna say when asked about his big brothers? Is he gonna bring up the well?"

Christian didn’t even notice Phil moving slowly but swiftly to the door. When he snapped and slammed Hunter’s head down on the desk, Phil opened the door and loudly said "We'll leave, Senator, just don’t hurt him."

Hunter whined, playing the scared Omega card as people flocked into the office. Two Alphas tore Christian off Hunter, shoving him against the wall as Betas and Omegas offered his victim comfort. Christian tried to say "This isn't what it looks like."

"I was just asking about Thomas, his little brother." Shaking, Hunter tore away from the comforting crowd towards Coulson, "Need me for anything else, Boss?"

"No, you can head out. Head home if you want, I’ll clock you out at the end of day." Once he was gone from the room, Coulson told Christian "I don’t think we’ll be able to work together after all. Didn’t your mother teach you not to raise your hand to a defenseless Omega?" He stormed out and paced, Hunter was getting coffee with a few Betas who were trying to still his shaking.

When they got back to base after Phil made a production of telling Hunter he could find his own way home if the Omega wanted the car, Bobbi smirked "Worse than HYDRA, that’s a little extreme."

"Just a little," said Hunter, disbelieving as she nuzzled his scent gland before moving to stand beside him. "We got it all on video, right?"

"Right," said Skye, getting over the shock of seeing Hunter totally fine as opposed to the quaking mess she’d seen on camera.

"Good, that should be worth something to Grant. I’m assuming he’s already made the news."

"Yeah, he tried to save himself by claiming you were SHIELD but that only got him arrested for conspiracy. Your IDs passed muster so he’ll probably get off on those charges," Bobbi said "The important thing is the investigation to see how deep his ties to terrorists run will expose his actual crimes. Thomas was a nice touch."

"Thanks." They were more comfortable with each other than most mates Skye had seen, even considering they were soul-mates.

Wait.

"Are you two soul-mates?"

"Yeah," answered Hunter simply. Soul-mates were extremely rare. In theory, everyone had a soul-mate but once bonded, people stopped looking. Omegas could naturally identify their soul-mate, whose presence would send the Omega into heat unless they were bonded. Since Betas relied on those around them to pick up on changes in scent, the odds of a Beta finding their soul-mate were not good. In fact, there was some debate about whether Betas even had soul-mates or if they were nature's extras.

"Okay, cool," said Skye, trying to mimic his relaxed attitude about the soulbond reveal.

By dinnertime, the revelation that they had a soul bound pair among them had gotten around the Playground. Jemma and Leo bashfully explained that it was actually two soul pairs, Leo's near-death experience broke their original bond and when he went to speak with Jemma after her return, she triggered him. "The explains why you didn’t seal your room," said Bobbi. "Sorry for reporting you to the Koenigs."

"I’m not," said Hunter. "We managed an extraction mere hours after you triggered me. By the time the Betas woke up, one of them should’ve been clear headed enough to seal the room." Bobbi whispered something in his ear and he ducked his head "Then again."

Simmons lightly glared at the other Alpha woman, who returned her glare with a flat look "You’re younger than we were."

"Oh, right." Jemma knew all about the biological effects of age on the different dynamics. As a younger Alpha, her instincts were sharper with a different focus, breeding instead of mere claiming. She ducked her head, looking very un-Alpha-like and Fitz wrapped an arm around her.

Skye said "I’m confused. I thought soul-mates could only be identified on their very first meeting."

"I’m sure you’ve heard the theoretical effects of your soul-mate bonding with someone else. Extenuating circumstances can play a role but in this case, I think Fitz simply didn’t recognize the signs of pre-bonding, which is a rarer form of identification." Bobbi turned to the other soul-mates "You’re probably a triad in the making."

The young couple seemed to feel equally stupid for not thinking of that. May said "Betas are rarely involved in soul bonds but it does happen."

"How do Betas identify their soul-mate?"

"We scent."

"So your sense of smell grows stronger in response to your soul-mate?"

"Sort of. Betas have the worst odds for finding our soul-mate. We can scent our mate but everyone else smells the same." They discussed what they knew about soul-mates, most of them didn’t know that different dynamics had different ways to identify their soul-mate and thought the sudden heat Omegas go into was the only way.

Hunter went down to Vault D after dinner and silently held up a tablet displaying the latest news on Christian Ward, waiting for Grant to speak "What's this? Did you have Skye make this?"

"What part of 'she wants nothing to do with you' do you not get? No, this is real. I even have video of the event. Give me actionable intel on HYDRA, I’ll show you the video." Ward gave a quick rundown of HYDRA's operations, answering every question Hunter asked before watching the video of the staged assault. Before leaving, the Omega agent asked "Where's the well? Or did you make up Thomas' near-death experience?" When the name seemed to trigger Ward's defenses, the ex-merc quickly explained "Your SHIELD file included a family tree for next-of-kin."

"Right." Grant gave him directions and Skye, who was watching through the cameras, sent an anonymous tip to the agents investigating Christian Ward.

Hunter thanked the other Omega before leaving, going straight to Skye "That went well."

"He wasn’t like that when I talked to him."

"He imprinted on you and that barrier kept you from picking up his scent, which is why you never noticed. Affection is physical for a lot of people, not just Omegas, so he was probably touch starved bordering on serious depression."

"Are you telling me he would’ve been just as cooperative if I’d patted him on the head for giving us good information?"

"No, that would’ve made him imprint more. He would’ve become even more convinced you belonged with him, that you were his true Alpha. Imprinting only occurs after trauma shapes us. Alphas become distant, sometimes self-destructive but nature gave us a lifeline in the form of imprinting before we go that far. If we’d brought him back like we were supposed to and used the vault as his heat room, his body might’ve given out from the perceived rejection. Instead, we managed to give him a new lifeline. He’d probably respond just as well to Trip."

"Because you cared for him during his heat."

"Exactly."

"Huh, interesting."

"Now if you’ll excuse me," he went to his room.

Everyday, he made a point of visiting Ward, even if it was just to drop off one of the man’s meals. The Omega's behavior slowly changed as he came to expect the visits, even looking forward to them. Hunter and Bobbi discussed a reward system with Coulson and the Koenigs to persuade Ward to keep up the good behavior. Andrew was sent to assess Ward after he joined the team but before he went off suppressants. Bonded Omegas needed their Alpha's permission to go on and off suppressants unless they had a court order saying otherwise; such orders were automatically issued when an Omega's Alpha went to jail or prison. Simmons was effectively Ward's Alpha where suppressants were concerned since she controlled how much the base stocked up. Andrew discussed suppressants with Ward as part of his assessment, which was more relaxed and less clinical than the other Omega had expected when Hunter told him they’d be sending a shrink to evaluate him. Ward passed the psych eval, which would’ve made him cleared for duty if he was still an agent.

Coulson paid him a visit after the evaluation "I have a proposal for you."


	3. Pack

Coulson paid him a visit after the evaluation "I have a proposal for you."

Dr. Garner said that he’d be mission ready if he was still an agent, that he seemed to be recovering from his history of abuse well, so Coulson was willing to take a risk with him. Grant's mind raced, what could Alpha Coulson want from him that he hadn’t already given Omega Hunter? Wait, no, thinking in terms of dynamics was bad for his health. What could the Director want that he hadn’t given the agents or the doctor? What was he waiting for? Oh, he was waiting for Grant to respond. Coulson always said dynamics didn’t matter to him much, unlike Garrett. "Yes?"

Phil heard and saw how anxious Ward was "Dr. Garner said that he’d clear you for active duty if you were still an agent. I’m going to ask Hunter to discuss your options with you in full, since he understands first hand what I’m asking." Taking a deep breath, Phil told Grant "I’d like to stage your escape and send you undercover in HYDRA. You can refuse, I’m not going to order or threaten you but before you decide I want you to talk to Hunter about it."

"Okay, sir."

"Think about it." Coulson said "Only you, me, Hunter and Skye will know it’s a setup if you accept, and possibly Bobbi because Hunter can’t keep a secret from his soul-mate. I’m only going to tell Skye if you accept. If you refuse then we’ll figure something else out."

"Okay."

"I’ll leave you to think about it." In the end, Ward accepted and they used his imprinting on Skye as part of his cover to keep HYDRA from whoring him out.

In San Juan, Skye believed him when he said "Your father won’t stop and neither will HYDRA, this is the best I could do." He came across Cal beating Coulson and pulled the insane doctor off the Director, saying "Daisy won’t forgive you if you kill her pack Alpha, the only one who accepted her." He shoved Zabo away and helped Coulson to the jet, holding his wrists out for cuffs and getting an amused shake of the head in response from Morse before May slugged him and cuffed him. _Maybe only four people knowing wasn’t such a great thing._ He thought as he was thrown into the Cage. His Omega nature made the ordeal feel like a betrayal and he curled up as best he could, silently apologizing in his mind once again for his sins. He’d need to make actual reparations and apologize for real before he could fully recover.

Unbeknownst to Grant, Andrew also knew about the plan and had torn Phil a new one "When I said I’d clear him if he was an agent, I wasn’t suggesting you throw him to the wolves. You know how much HYDRA pushes gender roles, Ward's not ready to face that reality, he’s liable to buy into their crap."

"Which is why I included Skye, he imprinted on her, she’s his anchor."

"He’s still not emotionally ready."

"Hunter would have told me if he thought the same."

An hour passed before May came back and Ward curled up even tighter. The badass Beta was gentle when she removed the cuffs and tugged on his sleeve to get his attention, "Coulson filled me in. Sorry about the punch."

He silently stood and followed her out to the lounge, where the rest of the team was. Coulson was seated on the couch, trying futilely to wave off Simmons' mother-henning with Fitz sticking close to his Alpha. Dr. Garner was curled up against Coulson, and now that Ward could smell him, clearly he was Coulson’s Omega. Skye was missing but if Ward had to guess, he’d say that wasn’t exactly by choice. "I’m sorry," was the first thing he said to them, ignoring all the agents who weren’t there in the beginning. "It was supposed to float," was all he could add before he couldn’t maintain eye contact any longer.

"Funny," Coulson said "Fitz said the same thing. We were all too angry to listen." Grant risked a glance up and found himself being invited to sit beside Coulson. He quickly accepted, still radiating nerves. Coulson could only offer a steady, calm presence, bonded as he was. "When we get back to base, you’ll have to pass a lie detector test before I can reinstate you as a probationary agent."

Ward swallowed hard, speaking in a small voice "Thank you, sir."

May left to update the Koenigs, passing Mack on her way and telling the mechanic to help him. Whether she meant Coulson, Ward or even Andrew, neither she nor Mack were sure. The large Omega sat down on Ward's other side, a silent hulking presence giving off comforting pheromones.

The lie detector went well, even if Coulson’s mates wouldn’t look at him for a week after San Juan, and Ward was given a room near Mack’s. That first day, he reported to Coulson’s office without prompting to debrief, explaining how HYDRA brainwashed loyal SHIELD agents in the hopes that they could rescue Agent 33. Phil listened, recorded the whole thing, then asked Ward's advice on how to raid the HYDRA bases he uncovered. They talked strategy, both silently cursing Garrett in equal measure as getting Ward to open up and believe his opinion mattered was harder than pulling teeth, then Phil sent Grant to Andrew's office for therapy.

The Omega shrink's office was more like a mini lounge with the comfortable seating mixed in with practical furniture to put any agent at ease, "Sit wherever you like." Ward gave into his Omega desire for comfort and chose the couch with blankets and pillows, Andrew moved from his desk to a chair opposite Grant and let his patient choose the topic of discussion. He wanted to let the other man know he was against sending him back into the lion's den but if that was how Grant felt he needed to face his past, Andrew didn’t want to set him back by being an overbearing older Omega trying to tell him who to be. Ward eventually spoke about how weirdly accepting everyone was being even though he didn’t deserve it. "I want you to first know that I won’t even mention anything you say during our sessions without your permission but Hunter has given me permission to use anything from our sessions to help others so I’ll probably refer to him a lot. Okay?" Ward nodded, he liked Hunter, even though he found the man perplexing. "Some people think dynamics determine where we belong in the world, there have been many attempts to ban certain presentations from different jobs. There was a time an Alpha could only study psychology if they were going to use it in law enforcement or the military, they weren’t allowed to practice or even teach psychology. Other people see presenting as a part of growing up, they view being Alphas and Omegas as no different than being male or female and as such, they don’t care which one you are as long as you can do your job. You're discovering different perspectives but for most of your life, you’ve believed that there was one right way of looking at things and brushed off all the others, which is normal, a lot of people look at the world one way and don’t even realize it. Now you’re wondering if the way you’ve always been taught really is the way it is or if another perspective might be more apt." He smiled and added "Or I’m reading too far into this." Grant looked at him, confused. "Speaking of perspectives, imagine trying to do a psych evaluation on Melinda May." Grant smiled despite himself, that actually did help him understand what Dr. Garner was saying about perspectives.

Hunter asked him to spar after his session, an invitation that Grant was happy to take from his fellow Omega. Even his old values said it was okay, Hunter was a bonded Omega not competition. He felt okay trying to let the old values go but recognized it'd take time. Both being Omegas, neither had the presence needed to force a submission. Usually this turned sparring into childish wrestling but they were both serious fighters and so the match was something to see. Eventually, they both began to pant and called it a draw. Grant went back to his room after chugging water to rehydrate.

He was adjusting well, Andrew decided, a week later. Melinda had the idea to move into her old quarters and let Phil stew. A week was more than enough time, Andrew decided, missing his Alpha and hating all the tension caused by Grant's return and the triad's split. Many were unconsciously waiting for the pack Alpha to snap and Andrew couldn’t take it anymore so he moved back. Melinda was too used to sharing a bed to sleep alone so she and Phil had it out that same day before she joined them that night. Grant understood that the base had an open door policy, if someone had their office door open then he could go in and talk to them. If the door was closed and he needed to talk to them then he could knock and they’d invite him in when they had a chance. It was a sign of how well he was adjusting that he frequently took advantage of the policy instead of internalizing his emotional problems.


End file.
